If what we are doing is for the Lord is it nothing , whether it is a big or small thing. I think of the Hymn “Little Is Much When God Is In It” Some thoughts to ponder.

The following was written by a young lady from church. She does this paper every month and always has a few thoughts to keep me thinking about.

April 2009

Just a Little Bit of Nothing.

AJ

Not too long ago I was thinking about some of the things I’ve written, whether or not I thought that God could use them to further His work. I went through my mind-files and started to classify some of my works as ‘just a little bit of nothing.’ Then it struck me; God can use ‘just a little bit of nothing’ to make a ‘big bit of something.’ Need an explanation? I did.

As I followed my new train of thought, I began to chuckle from deep inside. The Bible is absolutely full of a little bit of nothings. I mean, what did God make the world of? A little bit of nothing. (Though I always assumed there was a whole lot of nothing first!) What about Israel? He took a ‘little bit of nothing’ kind of man who had a little bit of faith, and He made a nation! What about Moses? God took a baby that Pharaoh saw as a ‘little bit of nothing’ and made Moses into a great leader! Joshua was a man with a ‘little bit of nothing’ to call trust, and God made him a mighty warrior of the faith. Do you see what I’m getting at? It doesn’t matter what your ‘little bit of nothing’ is; it doesn’t matter if you think you yourself are a ‘little bit of nothing.’ God likes using ‘little bits of nothing’ to make His kingdom a ‘little bit’ bigger! He wants to show you what He can do with your ‘little bit of nothing’.

I haven’t posted for awhile so I thought my blogger friend might be encouraged by this article by a young lady in my church.

Job Benefits

AJ

So far this year, almost everytime I listen to the radio or check the internet news, I hear about our bad economy. How things are going to get worse, (things aren’t as bad as they seem, of course!) and how awful, in general, it could be. People are losing jobs, the car sale companies are in debt, and several other similar statements waft through the air all over the world. Yet, throughout all this turmoil, there is still a job that maintains all its benefits. If you follow orders, the pay is fantastic, and there is no worry of ever being fired or losing your position. You get a free direct messaging service to the Boss, who is actually available 24-hours a day for any kind of need. The Boss ensures your future holdings will not be lost or forgotten, and your needs will be taken care of– often before they even arise! It’s a good job. Indeed, being a Christian is a good job. One that will last forever and has countless benefits. And there is always another position open. God is always willing for another employer to wake up and see the richer side of life. Have you signed up? What is holding you back? Disease? He can heal you. A destructive lifestyle? He can redeem you. Sin? He can forgive you. Hunger? He will feed you. Old age? He can renew your youth “like the eagle’s.” (Psalms 103:5b) Lack of wealth? He will give thee “wealth and riches” (Psalms 112:3). Don’t put off salvation any longer. The requirements are recognition of sin, repentance, and belief in Christ’s death and resurrection. It’s easy, and will be forever worth it! God is waiting for you, and His benefits are ready.

I just have a few thoughts that caught my attention as I was reading and thinking through Matthew 19 -24.

In Matthew 19 the Pharisees try to trip Jesus up by asking Himabout divorce, among many other things. It was not so they could find the truth but to see if He would contradict God’s Word. Jesus takes them back to the beginning where He shows them God’s purpose for marriage Genesis 2:24 says,”Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” and Matthew 19:5 say, “And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?” The Pharisees knew the law but they did not want to obey it. I am reminded here of myself and think of how many times I have disobeyed and done my own thing, not because I didn’t know what was right to do but because of this sinful flesh that does not want to do right. I have a forgiving merciful Lord that I am so thankful for. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He is so patient and long suffering to me. Sometimes it is hard to comprehend the hardness of my own heart, Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”,in obeying the things of a holy righteous God who only wants the very best for me. I know that one day when I stand before Him I am going to say, “I Wish I had Given Him More” as the Hymn says.

Chapter 21 makes me think of how quickly we change and follow the crowd. In verse 8 & 9 the crowd is excited about Jesus, “And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” Then all too soon this same crowd is saying, “Cruify Him Crucify Him”. I would like to say I would never change like that, but I have no idea what I would have done if I had been there with that crowd. To stand alone in a crowd like this would be by the grace and mercy of God.

Chapter 23 has many things that I need to pay attention to. Jesus gives many woes (strong warning) in this chapter. He is talking to scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites here. I think there is much for me to take heed to as well – like making sure that I am clean on the inside and not only the outside. That I have a true tesimony of faith and love for my Lord to those that I meet on a daily basis. I don’t want to be known as a hyprocrite – saying one thing with my mouth and another with my life.

Chapter 24 Jesus warns of being deceived by false teachers. This statement encourages me to read and study my Bible so that I will not be deceived. If I know God’s Word and check out what I am hearing and being taught with God’s Word, I should be able to discern those things that are taught whether they be of God or not.

When we get to verse 7 & 8 I am encouraged that the time has come that the Lord will rapture me from this world (of course if He hasn’t already called me home) and I will not have this flesh to be constantly battling. I do not believe that as a believer that I will be here either way to go through the tribulation. My reason for believing this is for another post.

As I started reading these chapters this week all I could think of was what a Heavenly Father I have to serve and obey.

In the genealogy of Christ God used harlots, Gentiles, adulterers and a maiden that was willing to obey. God uses who He chooses to accomplish His purpose. Sometimes I wonder how God could use me to do anything for Him – a sinner saved by grace. i realize that what God wants from me is a submissive, teachable, obedient life and allow Him to do what He will in my life, not to question Him. I wish I could say that I do these things.

While I was reading in chapter 3, I thought about how John the Baptist must have looked to the people who saw him, I think he must have really stood out in a crowd. He was probably mocked for his appearance. god used John the Baptist to tell of the coming of the Lamb of God – my Saviour. God wants me to be different from this world as well. I must say it is not easy to stand out in the crowd, but when I think of what Jesus did for me, I am ashamed of the prideful person that I am, that I am concerned how others see me instead of how I can please my Lord. John was not afraid to speak to the leaders either. Chapter 3:7,8 says, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” I need to have more of John’s character in my life and be willing to tell those I come in contact of the Christ who paid it all for each of our sin.

As I read chapter 4 how Jesus was tempted with the same things I am 1) the lust of theflesh – daily food – v.4, 2) the pride of life – temptation – v.5, 3) the lust of the eyes – material things – v.8,9. Satan tempted Jesus with the things of this world but He never yielded to any of it, which tells me with Jesus, it is possible for me to overcome temption as well. Philippians 4:13says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” I John 2:16 says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” In eternity none of these things will be of any value to me.

Chapter 4 showed me the importance of obeying right away. When Jesus called Peter and Andrew the Bible says in verse19,20, “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.” Also James and John in V21,22, ” And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”

Well that is it for this time I hope this will encourage you as it did me. Jesus is a wonderful Saviour and worthy of all the praise I can give Him. He is worthy.

One of the things that I got from this book is that anything done without God is nothing but vanity (empty) Chapter 1:14 “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” It doesn’t matter how much wealth, knowledge or wisdom I acquire, the most imprtant thing I can have is to know the Lord and have a personal relationship with Him.

Solomon with all his wisdom realized that everything he had done was nothing but emptiness. This reminds me that all I do in this world is going to mean nothing at the end of the day, only what I have done for Christ will count in the light of eternity.

Chapter 5:2 warns me to be careful with the words I speak, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” Matthew 13:36, 37 says, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy
words thou shalt be condemned.” When I read these verses, it scares me; so many times I speak before I think – not a good plan.

Chapter 12: 13,14 sums up the whole duty of man “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (emphasis mine). I don’t know what more to add as the whole book shows me that all of my labours are in vain without the Lord. He is in control and if I will heed His Word that will be my most important accomplishment in my life.

I praise God that He is so longsuffering with me as I travel this journey of life

This is all I have to share on this book, I found it a little difficult to do a review. One thing that should encourage me from reading this past two weeks is to take heed to God’s Word and obey it. I thank God for His love and faithfulness, without Him I am nothing.

I am looking forward to what I can glean from the rest of the reviews.

I know that Iam very late with my review:( My only excuse is that the time just gets away from me.

I must say that I have truly enjoyed reading and studying through this book. I also know that there is so much more to learn and try to understand in this book.

My study was about the bad character trait of being controlling in my actions and words. I am so amazed at how many times in the Book of Proverbs the “tongue, lips and mouth” are mentioned. I went through to find out how many times each was used either in a positive way or negative way. Here is what I came up with:

The tongue – 7 times in a positive way; 11 times in a negative way

The lips – 19 times in a positive way; 19 times in a negative way

The mouth – 24 times in a positive way; 26 times in a negative way

It looks like the negative times is used more than the positive. it has made me think about the times I have been guilty of using my tongue, lips, and mouth in a negative way when I have tried to be in contol of situations. I am asking the Lord to “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3.

A few other verses that were encouraging and helpful to me were the following:

Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” It has been said that it takes more energy to frown than to smile. A frown does nothing to edify anyone but a smile can brighten a day for those who are having a difficult day. I’d rather be an encourager than a discourager.

Proverbs 18:19 “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.” This verse has always been a concern to me as I witness to those who need the Lord. I pray to the Lord that only His Words would come out of my mouth, that they would look past my faults and see only Jesus. I would not want to cause the person to not want to know my Jesus because of the way I winessed to that person. My Mom used to tell me that there is a right and wrong way, a kind and harsh way to show the truth to a person. She gave me very wise advise and I am thankful for this advise many times. I want to share the truth of Christ isn a kind and caring way.

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee”. Another Scripture for me to think upon. Philippians 4:8 comes to my mind, “What are the things that I think as I go through my day. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these
things.” If I meditated on this verse, my thought life would improve.

Proverbs 24:16,“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” This verse always encourages me to get back up and try again when I have failed in an area of my walk with God. To keep on going in the strength and power of my Lord. Never Give Up!!!

Proverbs 25:11“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” When I read this verse I am reminded that so many issues could be resolved and even avoided if I would just put this verse into practice.

These are just a very few verses that spoke to me as I read through and meditated this past month. I am looking forward to reading the last two weeks reviews, I did not want to read them before I finished my review.

I am finding many things already as I read Ecclesiastes this week.

Until next time, and hopefully sooner than this reviewwas posted, “Keep your eye upon the sky, Jesus is coming soon”.

This will be a short post this week as it has been a busy and exciting week. I managed to get the daily reading done, but not much time to really concentrate on what really stood out to me.

The one thing that I did read a lot about was the the things God hates.

Proverbs 6:17-19 “A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” I should hate the things God hates and strive to please my Lord. God’s commands are for my good, His corection is to show me where I have strayed from Him and to get me back on the right way. Sin is not something I should see how close I can get to, but how far away from it I can get.

Proverbs 8:13“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” I looked up the word “froward” in Webster’s 1828 dictionary, the meaning is “perverse, that is turning from with aversion or reluctance; not willing to yield or comply with what is required ; unyielding; ungovernable; refractory; disobedient; peevish”. These are not complimentary words, and not things I want to be seen in my life. I continually pray for God’s wisdom and help. The meaning of wisdom is “the right and true use of truth and knowledge.” God has given me the road map in His Word for my life, I need to be willing and obedient to follow it. Proverbs 8:33-36 says, “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.”

Proverbs 9:1 says, “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.” I have the following written in the margin of my Bible for the seven pillars: 1) Fear God; 2) Keep His commandments; 3) Depart from evil; 4) Diligently seek wisdom; 5) Receive instruction; 6) Be rebuked; 7) Keep our heart. I believe this is very good advise to follow and will be pleasing to our Lord.

I looked up the meaning of “abomination” and “pride” as well in the Webster’s 1828 dictionary: Abomination is a strong word. It means “extreme hatred; detestation”. Pride does not have a very pretty description either. It means “inordinate self-esteem, an unreasonable conceit of one’s own superiority in talents, accomplishments, etc”. I found that these words are mentioned a lot in Proverbs, and it seems to me these are things to be very watchful for and avoid in my life, asking God’s help to weed out.

Well that’s it for this week. I am looking forward to reading the other reviews, as well as the next weeks reading.

The book of Proverbs is one of my favourite books. Before the Lord saved me this is the book I was reading. There is so much wisdom in this book and so much conviction.

I will just mention a couple of things that stood out to me about how I need to leave things to the Lord and for His timing. I always want to make things happen or fix things. This is not a good character trait to have and gets me into hot water a lot of the time.

Provers 3:5 -7 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and
depart from evil.” These are the verses I need to keep in memory and quote to myself. I would do much better if I just would believe and obey what I know God’s Word says when I think I have all the answers to solving life’s problems.

Proverbs 4:23,”Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” was a reminder to me that I need to take note to the things I allow to enter my heart. It is my constant prayer that my heart would be full of the love of Jesus, so that no wicked or unkind thing would come out of my mouth. Staying in God’s Word and heeding what He says is the thing I need to do.

Proverbs 5 has advice for our men to avoid. I believe it is also advice for women to keep ourselves proper so that we are not at fault in enticing and tempting men to do wickedly because of our dress and actions. We are instructed to “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”

That is all I have time for this evening. I am looking forward to what the Lord has to show me next week. Also to see what others found from this weeks reading. It is always encouraging to read the reviews.

What a difference it makes in our lives when we do little things for others, and that others do for us. On Sunday morning when I came to church, I was passed a Tim Horton’s French Vanilla (my favourite). Of course I had been giving this person a hard time for daring to come with a Tim Horton’s when I didn’t have one. I was not feeling very well and this act of kindness was an encouragenment to me. We never know what a little thing done for no reason can do for someone to help brighten their day.

Many times we are not aware of struggles that others are going through. My prayer is that I would be more conscience of the burdens that those around me are carrying and just do something special for them – a note and even a smile can do a lot to encourage that person. We don’t have to do big things, just those little things.

Shannon thanks for sharing your blessing, it made me think of the “act of kindness” done for me when I needed a little boost.

The following thoughts from a young lady of our church has some things that are worth giving thougt to as we go through our very busy days. Always find time to give to Christ, He gave His all for us.

Time with Christ.

AJ

It is hard to believe that I am writing this for the September newsletter. Time has flown away! (And I did not throw it out the window.) Children have grown, trials have come and gone, and the clock has kept right on ticking. Today is here, and yesterday is gone.

There are many jokes that have been made about time passing us by, many of them funny but true. Time has been given to us by God for the purpose of glorifying Him. I wonder how often we do glorify God with the way we use our time? We are surrounded by clocks. Yet how often do we give some of our ‘tick-tocks’ to share the gospel? How often do we take the time to think of an encouraging word, and then say it? And most importantly, how much time do we give God, the giver of time? In heaven there is no time, and forever is forever, but God would like to share your time on earth as well.